Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles received a $5 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation that will support journalism students from underrepresented minority groups. The Annenberg Leadership Scholarships will provide tuition scholarship for three graduate students and the Annenberg Leadership Fellowships will provide funds to support three visiting professorships for working journalists.

Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a program to study and preserve sacred forests in Ethiopia’s northern highlands. The small forests surround Christian Orthodox churches in the region.

The City University of New York is a major participant in a $16.5 million initiative to recruit and retain non-White male teachers for the New York City public schools. The city’s Young Men’s Initiative hopes to add 1,000 male teachers of color to public school classrooms. Currently, men of color make up just 8.3 percent of the city’s public school teachers, while male students of color are 43 percent of all students in the system. Most of the new teachers will be recruited from City University of New York programs. The university will employ nine new guidance counselors to help students on the path to become teachers in the public schools.

Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $600,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment to establish the Tuskegee University/Macon County Bridge Builders Program. The program aims to increase the number of young African Americans who pursue careers in theology.

The University of Chicago received a four-year, $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for programs aiming to decrease the use of child labor in cocoa fields in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

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Professional sports teams have discontinued playing Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” at games due to her recording of songs in the 1930s that contained racist lyrics. Which statement best reflects your view?

I agree that Smith’s version of “God Bless America” should not be played.

Smith’s recordings with racist lyrics should be considered in context of the times.

Abraham Lincoln made racist comments, should we ban the reciting of the Gettysburg Address?